A Thing Called Love
by greenikat89
Summary: Oneshot: A young Squall.  A surly Cid.  A letter.  Sometimes it only takes one instance to start a new beginning.


**Disclaimer:** I don't own the works of Kingdom Hearts or its characters. I just like to play with them.

A/N: Um, just something I found in an old document. Surprisingly it doesn't have Cloud in it. There really isn't much to it other than mindless fluff. Hooray?

Warnings: Slight OOC, AU/AR, swearing

* * *

Cid chewed on the end of his cigarette in frustration lest he start shouting again. His assistant Shera said it wasn't good for the kid to hear swears at such an early age. The man exhaled through his clenched teeth as he tightened a lug nut, rolling his eyes at Shera's words. "A little swearing never hurt nobody," he grumbled.

"Never hurt who?" a soft voice came from above him and Cid nearly banged his head on the underside of the truck.

"Jesus fucking Christ!" the man growled, sliding out from under the car and glaring at Squall. "What th' hell did I tell yah about sneakin' up on me, you little punk?" He rubbed his forehead where a lump was already forming.

Squall looked contrite and dropped his gaze to his scuffed shoes. "Not t'do it."

Cid felt a little bad for yelling at the kid and he sighed, picking himself up off the ground. "It's all right, kid. It'll take more than a bump on th' head to knock me out." He patted the brunet's slight shoulder before lighting up his cigarette. "Now what're yah in my garage for?" He had stressed how dangerous it was in here for a little kid like Squall, and he didn't want the boy to get hurt.

Squall shrugged and looked away shyly. Now that he was in Uncle Cid's garage he was unsure if it was a good idea. The man only tolerated him because he had heard Miss Shera scold the man for saying bad words to him. He knew he wasn't supposed to go into Uncle Cid's shop, but he couldn't help himself. It was easy to climb through the back window to look at all the fixed up machines even though Uncle Cid kept finding him.

The little boy hoped the man wasn't too mad for sneaking into his shop again. The letter Squall held behind his back crinkled in his clenched fist as he shifted his weight from one foot to the other. "Unca' Cid I was wonderin'…" he said in a soft voice.

Cid sighed and let the uncle part go. The kid had started calling him that a while back and he'd never bothered to make the brat cut it out. It seemed to make the boy happy. "What d'yah want?" he asked gruffly, leaning against the hood of the truck. He didn't have time to stand around all day while the brat hemmed and hawed over whatever boys his age worried about.

Squall squared his small shoulders and thrust the letter towards the man. "Will you come to this?" he asked in a rush, eyes darting anywhere other than the mechanic in front of him. He took a quick step backwards with his hands behind his back once the letter was taken.

"What's this?" Cid tried not to get oil stains from his fingers on the letter the kid had shoved at him. Ash blond eyebrows climbed into his hairline as he pulled out the bright yellow paper from the crinkled envelope. "A parent teacher conference?" He scanned the flyer, stating it was a time for parents to celebrate their child's achievement that upcoming Friday after school. It was signed Ms Aerith Gainsborough with a little note proclaiming how excited she was to talk about Squall's accomplishments.

"Kid…I don't know what t' say," Cid began awkwardly. It was very rare he'd found himself in a situation without words, but the kid always kept him off balance. He knew Squall came from Edna's Orphanage on the other side of town. The brat frequently talked about the place whenever he slipped out to come watch him work. There had to be some adult there who would have liked to go. "Why me?"

Wide stormy blue eyes looked up at him, a carefully guarded expression trying to hide the small boy's uncertainty at his reaction. "Ms Aerith said to bring someone you love. And you're my family, Unca' Cid."

Cid cleared his throat, his gaze fixed on the broken clock on the far wall. Something warm unfurled inside of him that felt suspiciously like tender affection and he pushed it away. He was not the type of man who cried over sissy shit. "All right kid," he said gruffly. He folded the flyer and tucked it into his back pocket for safe keeping. "I'll take a half day Friday an' go with yah."

Quick as lightening Squall rushed forward and attached himself to Cid. The small boy's arms clung tightly to a trim waist in an excited hug. "Thanks Unca' Cid," he whispered softly.

The boy had never really shown physical affection before so the hug threw Cid off balance. He stubbed his cigarette out on the worktable lest ash fall onto Squall. "Hmph, Shera woulda torn me a new one if I had refused." It was said without his customary scowl as he lightly patted the boy atop his head. "Now beat it. I've got a truck to fix and yer not supposed to be in here."

Squall was nearly beaming with happiness and not even being shooed out of the garage could diminish it. Cid rubbed the back of his neck and watched the kid excitedly walk down the road back to the Orphanage. "Damn brat," he sighed and shook his head. He shut off the lights and closed up shop for the day. He needed to go into town to pick up some more supplies to finish off his latest project. And maybe on the way back he'd drop into the local consignment shop for a pair of pint sized overalls.

Shera was always talking about making the mechanic shop a family business.


End file.
